Carriage for laying cloth



March 25 1924,

J. A. POIRIER CARRIAGE FOR LAYING CLOTH 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 March 25; 1924.

. J. A. POlRiER CARRIAGE FOR LAYYIJNG cLoTx-f Mater JOSEPH A. POIRIER,OF WOONSOCKET, RHODE ISLAND.

CARRIAGE FOR Application filed July 21,

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, JOSEPH A. Penman, a citizen of the United States,residing at- VVoonsocket, in the county of Providence and State of RhodeIsland, have invented a new and useful Carriage for Laying Cloth, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain improved devices by which theoperation of laying out cloth for the cutting trade may be made lesslaborious and by which the time required for laying the cloth may begreatlyreduced. It is customary to lay out the cloth on a long table,repeatedly adding layers or strips of cloth until the desired number oflayers is accumulated. These tables may be from 50 to 100 feet in lengthand the number of layers of cloth required is often very large. It hasbeen the common custom for a workman or boy to take the ends of one ortwo pieces of cloth and walk the length of the table, drawing the clothwith him and depositing it on the strips previously laid. He thenreturns to the starting point, cuts the ends of the cloth, and proceedsto repeat the operation. This method of laying cloth is slow andlaborious and requires the workman to walk many miles in laying out alot ofcloth.

It is the object of my present invention to provide mechanism associatedwith the cutting table, by which the operator may be easily transportedfrom one end to the other of the table and by which he may be as quicklyreturned to the starting position.

A further object is to provide special forms of controlling devices bywhich the operator may cause the mechanism to move at will in eitherdirection and by which he may stop the machine at a definite point ateach end of the path of travel thereof.

My invention further relates to arrangements and combinations of partswhich will be hereinafter described and more'particularly pointed out inthe appended claims.

A preferred form of my invention is shown in the drawings in which+ Fig.1 is a front elevation of a cutting table having my improved mechanismassociated therewith;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the travelling carriage;

Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation, taken along the line 33 in Fig. 2;

Fig. 1 is a detail front view, looking in the direction of the arrow 4in Fig. 2;

LAYING CLOTH.

Serial No. 576,623.

Fig. 5 is a side elevation partly in section, looking in the directionof the arrow 5 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional View, taken along the line 66 in Fig. 2;and

Fig. 7 is sectional plan view of certain parts, taken substantiallyalong the line 77 in Fig. 6.

Referring to the drawings, I have shown a cutting table 10 having legsor supports 11 and having a pair of guide rolls or bars 12 and 13mounted at one end of the table. The cloth is commonly furnished infolded bundles or packages, two of which may be placed in separatecompartments in a box or casing 14- at one end of the table. The ends ofthe cloth are drawn from the box 14: over the elevated guides 12 and 13and are carried to the opposite end of the table where they may beretained by placing a weight 15 thereon. The cloth is then cut adjacentthe guides 12 and 13 and the ends are again carried to the opposite endof the table.

The parts thus 'far described are of the usual form and in themselvesconstitute no part of my present invention which relates to theprovision of a travelling carriage so associated with the table that theoperator may be conveniently transported back and forth alongside thetable. For this purpose,

I have provided a carriage comprising a platform 16 mounted on wheels 17which are adapted to travel along tracks or guideways 18 adjacent theside of the table and substantially parallel thereto.

A motor 20 is mounted on the platform 16 and is connected by a belt 21to a pulley 22 rotatable on a stud or shaft 23 (Fig. 5) fixed in a postor standard 24 secured to the platform 16. A drum 25 (Fig. 2) is securedto the pulley 22 and rotates therewith. j

A. wire or cable 26 extends parallel with the tracks 18 and ispreferably supported upon the legs 11 of the table. This cable 26 makesone or more turns around the drum 25 to which it may be guided by a pairof grooved rolls 27. As the cable 26 is fixed in longitudinal position,it will be apparent that rotation of the drum 25 will result in movementof the carriage along its guideways toward one end or the other of thetable.

Electric current for the motor 20 may be delivered to the carriage inany convenient way and I have shown herein a three wire cable 30 formedin a succession of loops attached to rings 31 slidable on a plurality ofguide wires 32 supported above the table 10. This permits the carriageto travel back and forth without entangling itself in the loose cableand also avoids the necessity for a trolley or other movable contactdevice.

The connections from the cable 30 to the motor are preferably formedthrough forward and reverse switches, each comprising a pair of fixedcontact plates 33 or 34 and a pair of yielding or movable contact plates35 or 36. These different contact plates are secured to the under sideof the platform 16 and are normally in the spaced or open relation shownin Fig. 6.

A fibre plate 37 rests upon the movable contact plates 35 and isprovided with a plunger 38 extending above the platform 16. A similarfibre plate 39 rests on the contacts 36 and is provided with a plunger40.

When the plunger 38 is depressed, the circuit is closed through theplates 33 and 35 to start the motor and move the carriage in onedirection. -The plungers 38 and 40 project upward through the platform16 in convenient position for operation by the foot of an operatormounted upon a seat 44 above the platform 16.

It is essential that only one of the plungers 38 and 40 shall bedepressed at a given time and accordingly I have provided a safetydevice which prevents simultaneous operation of bot-h plunger-s. Thissafety device comprises a lever 41 pivoted at 42 to a bracket 43 securedto the under side of the platform 16. The ends of the lever 41 projectbeneath the fibre plates 37 and 39 and are engaged by the plates or bysome part fixed thereto whenever either plunger is depressed. lVith thisconstruction, the depression of one plunger necessarily requires thatthe other plunger remain in its normal or raised position. It istherefore impossible to close both the forward and reverse circuits atthe same time.

It is desirable that the carriage be stopped at a definite position ateach end of its path of travel and for this purpose I provide a lug orprojection 45 (Figs. 4'and 5) on one side of the pulley 22. I alsoprovide a lever 46 pivoted at 47 to the support 24 and ha ving side arms48 extending on each. side of the support 24. A spring 49 normally holdsthe lever 46 in the position shown in Fig.

The lower end of the lever 47 is engaged by a foot lever 50, depressionof which throws the arms 48 into the path of the pro jection 45 on thepulley 22. The pulley will thus be stopped in a definite position when'the projection 45 thus engages one or the 'vices other of the arms 48,depending upon the direction of travel of the carriage.

With the use of the mechanism above described, the operator is able tomove rapidly from one end to the other of the table, carrying the layersof cloth with him in one direction and returning quickly to thestart-ing point. It should be noted that the contacts are all normallyopen and that the carriage will move only so long as one or the other ofthe plungers 38 or 40 is depressed. The operator is thus required tohold his foot on one or the other plunger in. order to move the carraigeand he naturally uses the same foot to operate the foot lever 50 whichadvances the stop. his arrangement gives reasonable insurance that thecurrent shall be cut off from the motor before the stop is advanced tooperative position. By the use of this improved mechanism, the cloth canbe laid out at greatly increased speed and the laborious features of theoperation are entirely avoided.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof, I do notwish to be limited to the details herein disclosed otherwise than as setforth in the claims, but what I claim is z 1. A device for laying clothcomprising a cloth table, a wheeled carriage, guide-ways there-foradjacent said table, a motor on said carriage effective to propel saidcarriage along said guide-ways, and foot operated controlling devicesfor said motor, said decomprising forward and reverse switches, means toclose each switch and means to prevent simultaneous closing of bothswitches.

2. A device for laying cloth comprising a table, a wheeled carriage,guide-ways therefor adjacent said table, a motor on saidcarriageeffective to propel said carriage along said guide-ways, and controllingdevices for said motor, said devices comprising forward and reverseswitches, a plunger to close each switch and a lever pivoted adjacentsaid plungers and engaged thereby, said lever preventing simultaneousdepression of both plungers.

3. A device for laying cloth comprising a table, a wheeled carriage,gulde-ways therefor ad acent said table, a cable extending substantiallyparallel to said guide-ways and fixed relatively to said table andguide-ways, a motor on said carriage, connections from said motor tosaid cable, controlling switches for said motor normally held yieldinglyin open position, foot-operated devices to close a selected switch, andfoot-operated means to stop said carriage.

4. A device for laying cloth comprising a table, a wheeled carriage,guideways therefor adjacent said table, a cable extending substantiallyparallel to said guide-ways and fixed relatively to said table andguideways, a motor on said carriage, connections from said motor to saidcable, controlling switches for said motor normally held yieldingly inopen position, foot'operated devices to close a selected switch, andfoot-operated means to stop said carriage, said means com prising aprojection rotating with said drum and a stop arm movable into the pathof said projection to stop rotation of said drum.

5. A device for laying cloth comprising a table, a Wheeled carriage,guide-Ways therefor adjacent said table, a cable extending substantiallyparallel to said guide-Ways and fixed relatively to said table andguide-Ways, a motor on said carriage, connections from said motor tosaid cable and controlling devices for said motor including forward andreverse switches for said motor each comprising a pair of contacts, aplate of nonconducting material engaging each pair of contacts, means todepress said plates to close said contacts, and a device preventingsimultaneous depression of both plates.

6. A device for laying clot-h comprising a table, a Wheeled carriage,guide-Ways therefor adjacent said table, an electric motor to propelsaid carriage along said guide-Ways in either direction, means tocontrol and stop said carriage, an electric cable connected to saidmotor and to a fixed outlet, a plurality of elevated guide Wiresdisposed parallel to said table and guide-ways and a plurality ofdevices slidable on said Wires and supporting said cable in a series ofloops.

In testimony WlIGI'GOCf I have hereunto affixed my signature.

JOSEPH A. POIRIER.

